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"Copying is not theft"
Well, yes this is true but so what? It refutes a particular piece of anti-piracy rhetoric, where (usually big corporations) equate unauthorised copying with theft. But what it doesn't address is whether or not copyright - the law(s) under which copying can be legally restricted - is useful.
Actually I say it "refutes" the rhetoric but really what the "unauthorised copying is the same as theft" statement is saying is that there is harm associated with violating copyright. The fact that making a copy does not remove the original thing means that the statement may be technically false but it doesn't address the harm issue. It doesn't address the wider debate on whether copyright is a good thing per se and/or under what terms.
Which is a shame because that's the debate we need to have.
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